


Where is Ian?

by Sinistretoile



Category: Only Lovers Left Alive (2013)
Genre: Accidental Voyeurism, Anal Play, Blood, Blood Drinking, Blood Loss, Blood and Gore, Blood and Injury, Blow Jobs, Break Up, Car Accidents, Character Death, Cunnilingus, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Fucking, Implied Sexual Content, Masturbation, Minor Character Death, Porn, Porn with Feelings, Reunions, Sex, Sexual Content, Sexual Fantasy, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Smut, Unresolved Emotional Tension, Unresolved Sexual Tension, Vampire Sex, Vampire Turning, Vampires
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-02
Updated: 2016-09-19
Packaged: 2018-07-11 20:45:17
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 13
Words: 13,354
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7069285
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sinistretoile/pseuds/Sinistretoile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rhyan comes to Detroit looking for her brother, Ian. What she finds instead will change her life forever.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Rhyan sat in the driver's seat of her Chevy Trailblazer. Her chin rested atop her drawn up knees. She absently checked the door locks again. In this part of town, you couldn't be too careful. She also had the car alarm armed. Muffled music drifted up from the earphone that lay in her lap. The other fit snugly in her right ear.  
The tenement had been dark every night for the two months she'd been watching it. Every night except tonight. Lights blazed on the first floor. Loud, familiar haunting rock music killed the silence of the night. As she sat there, a petite blonde bounced down the front steps of the old brick home. This was new. She dropped her feet to the floor and turned her body in the seat to water her saunter down the street.  
This had to be one of the blondes Troy had seen Ian with. Rhyan picked up her notebook and scribbled this detail down. Until she found something for sure, she couldn't take anything to the police. Ian had been missing for four months. The police called off their inquiries two months ago. The city was just too big for them to 'waste manpower' on a man who they hadn't even been sure he'd been missing for a month. She settled back in the seat and drew her knees up again. She'd sit there until that bitch came back. The blonde hadn't even turned out the lights or turned off the music. She pulled a textbook onto her lap and opened it to the spiral notebook stuck inside. Continuing education could be a pain in the ass.

Rhyan watched the house and the blonde for another month before she decided on doing anything. Aside from being a club girl and a bit of a cunt, there was nothing that she could see that she could take to the cops. She watched the blonde leave for the night.  
The black nitrile gloves instantly made her hands sweat, despite the chill in the air. Spring hadn't hit Detroit yet. She'd worn snug black leggings and a black long sleeve Under Armour tee. She'd drawn her honey blonde hair up into a tight bun. Cat burglar chic. Troy had asked her what she was doing. She'd said 'night recon' to which he'd laughed and kissed her cheek then went back to work. For being Ian's best friend, Troy didn't seem too concerned about finding him.  
Her sneakers crunched the grit on the road. The sticky city heat beaded sweat on her skin the moment she stepped out of the SUV. Easing the door closed, she bumped it with her hip to close it the rest of the way. She was pretty sure no one was watching her as she crossed the street. She tried the door knob. Unlocked? Was this bitch asking to be robbed? Especially in this area?  
The floorboards creaked at her weight. Rhyan looked over shoulder to the Trailblazer. Now or never. She could easily turn back and get in the car and watch the place longer. She wanted to leave the door ajar. She actually did, then went back and closed it quietly. Her lungs emptied as she looked around.  
Wow. This place was a dump. At first. The paint had begun to peel. The carpets were threadbare and the wooden floors needed sanded and varnished. And there was stuff literally everywhere. Whoever lived here had been a pack rat. It had to have been that Adam guy that Ian told her about. Man, that man had collected everything. Instruments and electronics mostly.  
The short hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. The haunting music exacerbated it. She made quick work of searching the first floor. An empty fridge, sink full of beer bottles and cans, and someone had graffitied a hand carved chess set that had been left on the kitchen table. Trash littered the floor. And she didn't even want to investigate the septic smell from the bathroom. But in case the smell of old shit and pis happened to be covering the decomposition smell of Ian's body, she stomached it anyway.  
Rhyan shook out a handkerchief she found laying on a shelf. It covered her nose, faintly smelling of sandalwood and leather. She pushed open the door to the bathroom. Despite the double barrier of the handkerchief and the scent upon it, she gagged at the horrid smell. No body. But the toilet had overflowed onto the floor. And someone had taken to using the bathtub as a replacement. The mirror had been shattered. The sink full of cigarette butts and ashes and what she could only guess to be meth foils.  
Satisfied that no one had hidden a body in that cesspit, she firmly shut the door. A small bedroom off the hall had what she supposed were the blonde's belongings. Rhyan checked under the bed and in the closet. Nothing. No body, nothing that had belonged to him, nothing he had been wearing.   
She moved to the second floor and into a large room that been converted into a recording and sitting area. Broken records littered the floor. A broken guitar laid on the couch. She knelt to touch a dried blood stain. Fuck. She should have brought her taser. And where was it? On the fucking passenger seat! And the pepper spray was in her purse.  
Rhyan's eyes stung with angry, hurt tears. These people had killed him. She stood and moved around the couch. A lighter spot than the rest caught her eye. It had to have been a rug. But why not use the with the blood on it to wrap him up with? More beer bottles and cans, cigarettes and ashes, condoms and wrappers. A layer of filth on top of a layer of clutter that had been collected over time and with love. And Ian had probably found a fair amount of it for this Adam.  
She sniffed back anymore tears and wiped her eyes with her forearm. More bedrooms filled with what she saw as junk but had probably meant something to Ian and Adam. The bedroom at the end of the hall had the only shut door. She held her breath and turned the knob. She didn't know what she had expected but nothing happened.  
The door swung in to a black cavern. She reached blindly inside the door and felt around the wall just past the door frame. Old fashioned button switch. Who the fuck was this guy? And who was the blonde? And where was the other blonde? Light flooded the room. Rhyan blinked until her eyes adjusted.  
"Oh wow." Thick velvet curtains blocked out all the light. A huge, four-poster dominated the room. It had to have been a king. Cords tied back bed curtains to the posters that matched those on the windows. Black and white photographs, portraits and sketches covered the walls. A few color photographs stood out in the mix. Books piled on a table. She shook herself loose her awe. Nothing under the bed, though the sheets smelled of that sandalwood and leather scent that permeated the handkerchief she still clutched in her hand. Nothing in the small closet. She carefully checked drawers.  
With a huff, she sat down on the bed. Nothing. Not a fucking thing. The detectives would laugh at her if she told them what she'd found. After they booked her for breaking and entering. Was it breaking and entering if the house was abandoned for all intents and purposes? She had nothing. Six months of watching an searching for Ian wasted.  
Rhyan dropped her head into her hands. No tears would come but she could feel the sobs tightening her chest. This cry would hurt. It would be fruitless. Ian would still be missing and likely dead. She'd have a headache and stomach ache. And there would be nothing to take to the police. She looked over the pictures on the walls. Literary and scientific geniuses and musicians. No family?  
She flopped back on the bed. A small picture frame drew her attention. She rolled over and snatched it off the nightstand. Clearly, a wedding photograph, old and black and white. She studied it. The handsome groom as dark as his beautiful bride was light. She set the picture back in its place and extricated herself from the bed.  
Defeated, she didn't try to be stealthy coming back up the hall. Whoever these people were, they'd gotten away with Ian's murder. No body, no evidence. Case moved to the cold case files. She rounded the corner and nearly knocked over the petite blonde.  
"Who the fuck are you?"  
"My name is Rhyan." She held her hands up to show she didn't have a weapon. But Rhyan was far from defenseless.  
"What are you doing here?"  
Her eyes flicked to the door. The blonde glanced over her shoulder. Rhyan took advantage of the girl's distraction, shoving her into the wall. She made for the door but the blonde recovered quicker than she expected and tackled her face first into the musty carpet. The air whooshed from her lungs.  
The blonde whipped her over and punched Rhyan squarely in the nose. Blood gushed forth. "Fuck!" Fangs sprouted from the blonde's mouth. "What the fuck!"  
"What are you doing here!"  
"I'm looking for Ian!" The blonde's unconventionally pretty face darkened, her brow furrowed.  
"He's not here."  
"Well, no shit."  
The blonde let her up. "What did you find?"  
"Nothing." Rhyan spat the word. She sat up but didn't stand. The blood had stopped but her entire face hurt. "Not a fucking thing."  
"I think you should leave."  
"Why? This isn't your house." Rhyan struggled to her feet.  
"How do you know that?" The air about the blonde changed. The short hairs on the back of Rhyan's neck stood. She didn't seem the bubble-headed party girl anymore. She felt dangerous. Rhyan backed slowly into the large room. The blonde's mouth twisted into a predatory grin. "You really want to know what happened to Ian?"  
"Yes." Rhyan squared her shoulders, drawing in a breath through her mouth since her nostrils had been blocked by blood clots.  
"I drank him. Right there." The blonde pointed to the couch. Confusion clouded Rhyan's face. Drank? Was this psycho telling her she'd given Ian head on the couch? Or was she implying that she was a vampire? Rhyan couldn't fight the impulse to look at the couch.  
The blonde tackled her into the table behind her. Rhyan screamed. The blonde snapped her teeth at her prey. She'd gone completely feral. Rhyan's eyes widened. She continued to scream into the blonde's face as she held her off just barely with an arm in the throat. Rhyan smelt gun oil near her head. She spared a glance to her left. A revolver! The blonde pressed closer to her prey's bare throat, spittle flying in strings.  
Rhyan's fingers fumbled for the grip of the gun. She twisted her arm around painfully and pressed the gun into the blonde's chest. "Get off me!"  
"Go head! Shoot!" This bitch had lost her damn mind! "Shoot me! Do it!" She squeezed the trigger. The pop of the shot deafened her. Light of comprehension dawned in the blonde's eyes. Then all life died away from her face.  
The blonde slumped dead weight onto Rhyan, who began to scream. A bubble of panic exploded in her chest. Rhyan shoved the body off her. She jumped up and ran for the door then stopped in the hall. What was she going to do? "Fuck. Oh, mother fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. What seriously just fucking happened?"  
Rhyan fell against the wall. Gravity didn't help hold her up. She slid down, staring into the room. To the blonde hair and spreading darkness beneath her. Could she truly see blood on the pale arm where it rested on the carpet? "Oh fuck." She couldn't call the police. Breaking and entering. Murder. Even though it had been self-defense. Could she tell the police that the blonde had been a vampire? No fucking way. They'd lock her ass up in the loony hatch.  
Her brain scrambled for all the vampire lore she could think of. Sunlight! She'd just pull the curtain back and burn the bitch up. But the house might catch fire. Oh fucking well! She admitted to killing Ian! Do it, dammit!  
Rhyan willed herself up to her feet then into the room. She avoided looking at the body. She opened the curtain halfway. Wasn't that how it worked? Would the sunlight ignite the exposed part of the body and spread or did the whole thing need to be in the light? Oh god, she didn't fucking know! She'd have to test the theory. She couldn't just leave the window wide open. Someone would know something wasn't right.  
Who! She was the only one that had been anywhere near the place in the months she'd been watching it. Still, she didn't want to take the chance. She backed along the clustered electronics until her palms hit the wall. She couldn't look at the body, but she didn't want to turn her back in case the blonde wasn't really dead. No movement from the body.  
Rhyan took a deep breath and ran for the door. The blonde didn't give chase. Rhyan slammed the heavy front door behind her. She threw open the driver's side door and jumped in. She engaged the locks and fumbled with the keys. The engine roared to life. She shoved the shifter into gear. The tires squalled before they caught. Rhyan white-knuckled the steering wheel all the way home.


	2. Chapter 2

No police showed up at Ian's loft. Rhyan didn't go back to the tenement for a week. A week stretched into a month. A month into two. She went to work and went to the bar. Troy tried to pick her up several times. But Rhyan wasn't stupid. One, Troy had an on and off crazy bitch girlfriend who could probably kick her ass. Two, she didn't want to draw attention to herself.  
Rhyan sat at the microscope, looking at the red blood cells. The patient had leukemia. It was supposed to be in remission, but there it was. Immature cells in different stages all over the slide. She sighed and leaned back in the chair. Her hands rubbed over her face. She had to go back. She had to make sure the blonde was dead. Would she dispose of the body? Could she? Is that what they did with Ian?  
The night tech sauntered in. "Busy night?"  
"Not in our neck of the woods."  
"Good." He rubbed his dark brown bald head. "Anything new?"  
"5150B is exhibiting occurrence."  
"Shit." Her neck protested at looking at him upside down and backwards. She sat up and turned in the chair.  
"Yea." She pulled off her gloves, tossing them in the bio-hazard trash, then squirted alcohol gel sanitizer on her palm. She rubbed it in. "The log is clear and the QC was good. You should probably watch freezer two's temp. It keeps fluctuating."  
"Again? I thought Helmer just came out last month."  
"They did. They gave all three fridges and both freezers clean bill of health."  
"Bullshit. Two's been making that dying engine sound since before you started." She shrugged. "I'll have Dennis put a call in in the morning."  
Rhyan nodded and took off her lab coat, hanging it on a hook. "Oh and you received a weird message from Dr. Faust. Do we have a Dr. Faust on staff or is it some joke?"  
He shifted uncomfortably. "It's a joke."  
"Clever. Good night."  
"Night, see you tomorrow."  
Rhyan's mind wandered as she gathered her bag and purse. She waved to the receptionist. The long hall out to the back parking lot always made her think of horror movies. It didn't usually creep her out and she didn't look forward for the night it eventually would.  
Spring had finally sprung. It was almost April. She glanced around the parking lot and hit the unlock button on her key fob. The driver's door unlocked and she opened it and slipped it. Engaging the door locks as soon as she sat in the seat. She made the decision to go back to the tenement. She just had to get changed.

Rhyan opened the front door, quietly. Nothing attacked her the second she stepped inside, so she breathed a sigh of relief. She left the door slightly ajar. Just a crack and it would appear shut from the street. Her soft footfalls thundered in the silence. A floorboard creaked above her. She looked up then around, going completely still. Her breath sounded loud in the stillness. No other sound followed.  
She sighed and looked into the living area. Her eyes widened. Half of the body had burned away. The half that had been in the sun. She took a step forward in disbelief. Being in the medical field helped her not to vomit on sight, but the remains weren't pretty. Fluids had leaked onto the carpet, leaving a dark stain beneath the scorch mark. Was that mud? Human mud. No, vampire mud. Flesh turned to ash soaked with body fluids.  
Rhyan swallowed. This wasn't possible. She took a step back and spun around. A man blocked her. She opened her mouth to scream but before she could, he covered her mouth and locked his arms around her. She hadn't even seen him move. The whites of her eyes glistened in panic. He didn't cause her pain, but his grip held her fast, vise-like.  
"I'm going to remove my hand. If you scream, I will be forced to silence you. Do you understand?" She nodded. He smelled good where he had her pressed against him. Like old books and the faint scent of wires. God, why was she thinking about the way he smelled? He lifted his hand. She worked her jaw back and forth. She could taste copper in her mouth where the sudden crush of his hand had cut her lip upon her teeth.  
His pupils dilated, flashing an eerie silver. She gasped, trembling in his grasp. "It's true. You're a vampire!" She meant it to be a shout but her words came out breathless, terrified and transfixed.  
"Who-are-you?"  
"Did you kill Ian? He found out and you killed him. Are you going to kill me?"  
"Whoa. Hold on. How do you know Ian?"  
They looked down at how he held her. "Look, I'm not going to run. This is becoming awkward and slightly arousing and distracting." The shaggy-headed, ebony haired Adonis released her. She rotated her arms, prompting blood and feeling to return to her arms.  
"Sit down."  
"Where?" Rhyan looked around and the only place was the couch, and she sure as hell wasn't sitting there. Not after what the blonde had told her.  
"The couch."  
"No. No fucking way."  
"I'm not going to hurt you unless you prompt me to."  
"I'm not sitting on the fucking couch my brother was murdered on!"  
Realization lit the man's eyes in guilt and regret. He sighed and shook his head. "Kitchen." He gave her his back, either showing her he trusted her not to do anything or letting her know that she wasn't a threat to him. She thought the latter. Rhyan glanced at the disturbing half body then hurried after him.  
He'd sat on the side of the table facing the door. She sat across from him. The chess board still lay on the table. His abnormally long fingers began to upright the pieces. "What happened to Ian?"  
"Do you play?"  
"No, I never got into chess and checkers. Cards were my fortay. Ian liked Monopoly. Now, answer my question."  
They sat in uncomfortable, charged silence while he finished resetting the chessboard. "He's dead."  
"I want his body."  
"You can't have it."  
"Why!"  
He held up his hand. "Please stop shouting. I've traveled for many days. I'm tired and I'm hungry and I'm agitated."  
"You're agitated?" Her hands clenched into fists in her lap. Her teeth ground as she clenched her jaw, fighting to remain calm. She began to feel like a broken record when she asked yet again. "What happened to Ian?"  
He sighed and finally looked at her. Rhyan swallowed at the weight of his stare. His blue-green eyes pierced right through her, their pupils constricted to almost pinpoints. She unconsciously wet her lips. "What is your name?"  
Rhyan sighed, exasperated by his evasion. Her nails bit into the meaty flesh of her palms. If she clenched much tighter, she'd break the skin. "Rhyan, and I assume you're Adam. You're the one that's in the picture upstairs."  
Adam jerked as if slapped. "You've been in my room?"  
Rhy couldn't stop the smirk before it twisted her lips. "I've been through this whole house."  
Adam frowned. He clearly didn't like that, but she didn't give a good goddamn. "Yes, I'm Adam." He looked her over, taking in the light brown hair twisted up into a clip, her budding dark pink lips. The pulse that thumped rapidly, angrily in her throat. The way it moved the pale flesh above it in time with the luscious beat of her heart.  
Rhyan slammed her fists on the table. "Answer me!" Adam jerked from his reverence of her neck. "Answer me, Adam."  
"You can't have his body because there isn't one."  
Tears welled in her eyes, hot and acidic. She grabbed the chess board and flung it. The chair knocked over as she abruptly stood. Shrieking like a banshee, she threw whatever she could get her hands on. When there was nothing left to throw, she ran at Adam. He stood fluidly and grabbed her, spinning her around. His iron-like arm clamped over her upper arms, pinning her back to his chest. She screamed and kicked but he held her fast.  
Rhyan fought until the rage spent itself. Her head dropped forward as the sobs took over. Adam swallowed anxiously. He couldn't deny that she smelled incredibly sweet and her body felt warm and pliant now that she'd stopped fighting. It would be so easy to push her hair to the side and sink his fangs into her rabbit's pulse. Those very fangs that pushed against his upper lip.  
"Please, Adam, I have to know what happened to him." Her sorrow and tears thickened her voice into a thicker, deeper and dare he thought sexier tone. His arms loosened around her.  
"For what it's worth, I'm truly sorry about what happened. I rather liked Ian." Rhyan's strength waned. The weight of the truth weakened her knees, but for Adam's hold on her, she would've sunk to the floor. "Let's get you some fresh air." He carried her out the back to a patio. He sat awkwardly on the grass, his legs stretched out on either side of her, still holding her over her arms. "It might seem hard to believe, but you must believe me."  
Rhyan looked up at the sky. The radiant glow of the city lights and clouds obstructed the stars. Tears chased each other down her cheeks. When Adam had finished the tale, he waited silently and still against her back. She leaned her head back against his shoulder, exposing her neck to him, either intentional or not. The temptation unnerved him.  
"I believe you. Now, I wish her death hadn't been self-defense."  
"About that. Care to tell me what happened?" His arms dropped to his sides then his hands moved to rest upon her thighs. Either she didn't notice or didn't mind.  
"She caught me in the house. I believe she'd have killed me if I hadn't shot her." Rhyan scoffed. "Funny thing, she thought that a bullet to the chest wasn't going to kill her."  
"It shouldn't have. Weakened her, yes. Unless..." He trailed off. "It didn't happen to be a six shot revolver you shot her with, did it?"  
"Yes. It was in the room, actually. I don't know where it came from. We knocked things over when she attacked me."  
"Ian saved your life. I had asked him to get a special bullet. He came through as always. That bullet killed Ava."  
Rhyan half-smiled. "Post-mortum revenge."  
"I think you had better go. I'm rather famished and I'm...I'm afraid I might hurt you."  
"What will you do for blood?"  
"I'll find something."  
"Isn't that dangerous?" He shrugged. She sighed. "Ian spoke highly of you." The tears threatened anew. Adam's guilt flared. "He really liked you. So I'll help you out. This once."  
"Are you offering yourself to me?" He didn't bother to hide his shock. His hands jerked upon her thighs. But he felt rather pleased and excited, eager even, to get his mouth on her throat or the thighs beneath his hands or those breasts that pressed against the fabric of her sweater. He squeezed his eyes shut. It had been a long time since he'd lusted after a woman other than Eve. It felt awkward and delicious.  
"Um, no. I work at the hospital. I can get you blood."  
"Oh." Rhyan frowned at the clear disappointment in the one word. She sat forward causing his hands to fall then stood up.  
"I'll be back in a couple hours. I promise." Rhyan ran around the side of the house. Adam's hand clamped around his wrist and pulled her up short. She nearly fell, stumbling off balance. "Look, I promise I'll be back."  
Adam slammed her up against the side of the house. His hand closed around her throat but the grip wasn't as firm as it could have been. He was weakening more than he cared to admit. He didn't want a repeat of Tangiers. "If you don't return, I'll follow your scent. I'll creep into your window and make you remember why humans fear vampires."  
Rhyan's pulse fluttered, fear and disturbing arousal laced through her. Her lips parted in invitation, in need. She blinked and only the night lay before her. Her body slumped against the wall. Holy fucking shit. What the hell. She sprinted for her SUV, throwing open the door and jumping in.  
She gulped air, trying to slow her pulse. Her hands shook as she started the vehicle. The tires spun before catching. She didn't look back as she rocketed back toward the hospital. How would she explain her return to Luther?

Adam watched her from his window. He could almost taste her on his tongue. He flicked the curtain back in disgust. He needed Eve. But Eve had gone to the Highlands to visit with her surviving people. He looked around the room. "Fucking zombies."


	3. Chapter 3

Luther sat with his back to the lab. He mumbled to himself while looking to the microscope. Rhyan looked at her watch. The page for him should be going off any minute now. She glanced at the intercom speaker. Come on, come on.  
"Luther Saxon to admitting. Luther Saxon to admitting." He cursed and pushed his chair. He sighed and disposed of his gloves in the biohazard. Rhyan stayed behind the cracked door until she heard him exit. Pushing the door open, she moved quickly and quietly.  
There were three units expiring tomorrow. She had seen them when she'd performed the shift inventory. They had glaring orange 'short date' stickers on them. She grabbed one of the open heart coolers and put in two frozen ice packs. Wrapping the units in transport cellophane, she snatched the clipboard from the side of the freezer. Luther had already initialed as disposing of them. He was probably waiting for midnight to roll around. Thank goodness for cutting corners.  
Rhyan replaced the clipboard and grabbed the cooler. She heard the door open and ran for the opposite side of the lab. Luther's stream of cussing let her know how long she had to reach the door she'd come in before he saw her, which wasn't long. Thankfully, she knew this lab like the back her hand. Skidding around the counter, she threw open the door. Her breath and heartbeat thundered in her head as she ran for the exit.


	4. Chapter 4

Rhyan's knuckles shone white in the moonlight. Was she truly sitting in her Blazer getting ready to deliver blood to vampire? Was this really her life right now? She looked up at the tenement house. She'd been watching this place for nine months and now, now that she had answers, she didn't want to go back inside. Adam terrified her. And aroused her. Maybe she should have fucked Troy.  
Her forehead thumped against the steering wheel. She breathed deeply. "You can do this. You can do this. You've already got the blood. No going back now." Her hands twisted on the steering wheel. Her hand barely hesitated before grabbing the cooler. She opened the door and stepped out, cooler in hand, in one smooth confident motion. She slammed the door without looking back and strode across the street. Her pulse thundered in her ears as she walked right up to the front door. Her hand poised to knock but the door opened. She held out the cooler.  
"Could you be less conspicuous?"  
Rhyan turned around to check the surroundings. "Who the fuck is going to see it?" She turned back to him, but he'd already disappeared into the house. "I'm too old for this shit." She shook her head and stepped in, shutting the door behind her.  
Rhyan sat at the kitchen table and watched him pour the blood into canisters then put said canisters into the fridge. He slammed the door, irritated at something. "Listen, I need your help with something." She remained silent. "This house is a horrible mess."  
"Are you talking about the clutter or the mess on top?"  
"The zombie shit that Ava either allowed to happen or didn't fucking clean up."  
"I'm sorry, zombie shit?"  
"Human waste."  
"Ah, so you call humans zombies?" She crossed her arms over her chest, leaning back in the chair. She crossed her legs. Adrenaline began to fade, replaced by exhaustion and irritability. "Funny, since you're the one who's dead."  
"Not dead. Nor undead." He avoided looking at her. "It's complicated."  
Rhyan scoffed. "What isn't?"  
"Would you excuse me for a moment?" She held up her hand in a 'go ahead' motion. He took one of the canisters and left the room. She should have just stayed there. She should have just waited. Instead, curiosity got the better of her. She quietly made her way to the living area.  
Adam intently poured a cordial glass full of thick bright red blood. He fingered the skull on his chest then drank the blood. His fangs poked out beyond his lip. His eyes closed and he swooned, laying back on the couch.  
Rhyan watched him silently from the doorway. The disturbing lust he inspired in her pinged through her. She gasped despite herself. His eyes opened. He lifted his head. His lust for this zombie confused him. And at this moment, he wanted nothing more than to take her down the hall and fuck her until she couldn't walk.  
"I cannot live in this house the way it is. I need your help in cleaning it up. I will pay you."  
"I can't. I have a job."  
"I will pay you well. Please. I don't want to have to go through the process I did to find Ian." He leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "If you're anything like your brother, I should like to retain your services."  
Rhyan gaped at him. "First of all, I don't know even know if I can trust myself not to try to kill you. Second, what makes you think I want to help you? And third, go fuck yourself. I've helped you enough." Rhyan stormed into the kitchen and snatched the cooler off the counter. Whirling around, she slammed into Adam's chest. "Fuck!"  
"Please, Rhyan, I'm limited in my daylight hours. I live to create music. And I can't in all this filth. I would pay you quite well."  
She stared at his chest. "Fine. I'll help you. But you so much as look at me in a threatening way, I'll put your ass outside at high noon."  
"Fair enough. But you needn't worry. I don't want to hurt you in any way you wouldn't find intensely pleasurable." His voice purred, curling up her spine.  
"I think I need to leave now."  
"Pity." Adam stepped to the side to let her leave. She kept glancing back as she exited the house and got in her SUV. He made no move to follow her. He knew she'd be back. She'd found her answers, but they had left her wanting. Wanting more.

The trash company hadn't asked questions when she'd requested a large dumpster dropped off behind Adam's tenement, The cashier at the home repair store had looked at her funny though when she'd bought nearly $2000 in cleaning supplies and trash bags.  
After she worked her shift at the hospital, Rhyan drove across town to the tenement house, which was actually a stately mansion fallen into disrepair. She started in the entryway, picking up trash and dusting. The carpets would either need cleaned or replaced. Were there Youtube videos on how to lay carpet? She stacked books. Thankfully, Adam didn't have a paper trail. He'd paid for everything in cash or Ian had handled it. Less mess and less attention, she guessed.  
Rhyan wore a respirator and gloves as she cleaned the sink. She had an idea for the books throughout the house. She couldn't be sure Adam would agree but since he didn't need the kitchen to cook or eat, why not utilize the space?  
Electronic music pumped through her ear buds, isolating her from the world as she cleaned. She threw away unused dishes and utensils, keeping the wine glasses. When the last of the nasty garbage had been thrown outside, she removed the respirator.  
Adam padded silently into the kitchen and sat at the table. Rhyan began to take the doors off the empty cabinets. "What are you doing?"  
"What's it look like I'm doing?"  
"Destroying property."  
Rhyan leveled a stare him, placing her hands on her hips. "You're paying me to clean your house. Shut up and let me do my job." A strand of hair fell across her forehead. "How are you on blood?"  
"I'm fine. I have other avenues, Rhyan. You needn't worry."  
"You keep telling me not to worry. I'm not. I just don't want you deciding I look like a tasty snack."  
"Too late." Rhy startled and brought her hands up off her hips. "I told you. I won't hurt you in any way you won't enjoy." He smirked and unfolded himself from the chair. She watched him exit the kitchen then leaned against the counter. It bit into her back and the pain grounded her.  
A fucking vampire. The only man that wasn't in the medical field or music business to flirt or proposition her and it was a fucking vampire. Oh wait, he was in the music business. "Fuck." She needed air. She had all the doors off the cabinets. Might as well go load up the dumpster.  
Adam watched her from the window. His eyes drank in the way her arm and back muscles moved as she lifted bags and items into the dumpster. He felt the desire to bite her apple-shaped ass every time she bent over. She lifted the tail of her shirt and fanned herself with it. She bent her upper body so that she could wipe her forehead with it as well. He licked his lips. He longed to run his tongue down the center of her abdomen to find her center.  
He rested his forehead on the curtains and closed his eyes. He needed Eve. His lust for this zombie woman compounded every night she returned to his home. She made no move to harm or seduce him. She simply came and did the job he'd given her then left. He could tell she wanted him. Her heart and breath sped up every time he got too close. He could smell her arousal.  
"Adam?" He opened his eyes slowly. "I'm gonna leave early tonight. I'm pretty much done with the kitchen. But I'm exhausted." He turned his head and nodded. He didn't speak, didn't trust himself not to ask her to stay. If she declined, would he beg her? "Good night. I'll see you tomorrow evening."  
Adam set his guitar in the stand and powered down all the recording equipment. He went to the fridge to retrieve one of the canisters. He'd be glad when Rhyan made it to the bathroom, and he was able to get into the cubby he'd designed to hide the blood. He couldn't directly ask her for fear that might arouse her suspicion.  
He sat on the couch and poured the glass. The process had become ritualistic and erotic, less animalistic and passionate. The blood pooled on his tongue. He let it trickle slowly down the back of his throat, heightening the euphoria it brought. That first night after Rhyan had left, he'd nearly gorged himself, exhausted and starving from travel. Then he'd dragged the rest of Ava's corpse out into the yard. Drinking as much blood as he had been lately amped him up, made him anxious, eager, horny.


	5. Chapter 5

Rhyan's head bobbed to the music coming through her ear buds. The May heat was in full force today. She'd worn a pair of short denim shorts. To be honest, they were a bit crass. They barely covered her ass cheeks, but it's not like Adam would try anything. She'd heard him talking to Eve a time or two. They were madly in love. And she hadn't yet figured out if he could actually have sex.  
"Snap out of it, idiot." Sweat rolled down between her breasts. The bikini top allowed her to get a nice tan while she cleaned up the trash out of his yard. But right now, she needed a drink and to relax inside. Which was where he found her.  
Her body undulated to the song thundering in her ears. She'd cleaned and rearranged this room so having her eyes closed wasn't a hindrance. Her head whipped back and forth. She began to sing along, thinking herself alone. Her hands roamed her body to the crunchy guitar and raspy vocals.  
Rhyan had been avoiding Adam since she'd accidentally walked in on him sleeping. His alabaster flesh swathed in black satin sheets. He hadn't moved so she couldn't be sure if he'd been awake or if she'd woken him up or if he'd remained asleep. But the sight of him had pinged right through her. And the dirty bastard kept walking around the house without a shirt on or with it open. She'd started coming in the day when she knew he'd be sleeping.  
The music made an abrupt change to a sugary sweet love song that had caught her attention. She continued to sway and twirl around the room, singing along. Her breath escaped her as she turned into the wall. But that wasn't right. She wasn't near the wall. She slowly opened her eyes, her belly an anxious knot. His hands steadied her at her back.  
"Adam." Her voice came out soft, breathless. The delight bubbling in her belly surprised her.  
"Rhyan." That bare chest that unsettled her glared at her. His dark eyes burned, with hunger, desire, need. "I have missed you." Despite myself, he finished in his head.  
"I've been busy." Why couldn't she breathe? Her pulse fluttered rapidly in her throat. Her chest heaved with quick shortened breath. Please just let me go. You're touching me and I can't bear it.  
"I thought you were avoiding me."  
She was. A soft moan escaped her. "Adam." His mouth covered hers before she could turn away. His tongue glided along her bottom lip, asking for invitation then taking it when her lips parted. His hands moved to grab her wrists and hold them at the small of her back. Her eyes slipped closed, too overwhelmed by the eagerness racing through her. I shall surely die.  
His fangs slipped out, pricking her lips and tongue. He growled and crushed her against his body, sucking the cooper pennies through their joined mouths. He broke the kiss but his mouth hovered over hers.  
"You taste like ambrosia." He sucked her bottom lip, pressing it between his teeth. He could smell her arousal. She pressed her thighs together even as she pushed her breasts into him. His hands rubbed up her arms to her shoulders then cupped her jaw. Their tongues lapped at each other and dove into each other's mouths.  
Her sun warmed skin and the taste of her blood and mouth awakened his cock. It nudged her lower belly through the jeans. She gasped. "Oh Adam, we can't." Yet, she grabbed his waistband, dipping her fingers to touch his cool skin.  
"Why not, my lovely one?"  
His nail grazed down her vulnerable throat to her chest. He kneaded her breasts, rubbing his palms back and forth over her hardened nipples.  
"You're married. I can't."  
His lips trailed along her jaw, murmuring against her sweat salted skin. "Eve and I have been married for a very long time. She and I are allowed our dalliances."  
"A dalliance am I?"  
"You could be more..."  
"Wait..." But his mouth was on her throat, kissing and scraping those fangs against her rapid pulse. "Did-did Eve give you permission for this?"  
He grabbed her hips and pressed her against his rock hard cock there. "Permission, no. She suggested it."  
Rhyan blinked and tried to think. "So you want to fuck me because your wife told you to?" His large hands teased down her ribs then grabbed her ass fully, lifting her up. His fingers slipped under the denim fabric. He could easily rip them off.  
"Oh no, I've wanted to fuck you since the first time I saw you."  
"So..." She brushed her lips back and forth against his. "Are you going to?"  
"Do you want to?"  
"God yes, but I think it would be a mistake."  
"Why's that?"  
"I've read the books. The human dies or gets turned into a vampire or used against the vampire. What about Eve?"  
"What about her?"  
"You love her so much. I don't see how you'll truly enjoy anything with me."  
"I'd like to be the judge of that." He took her hand and pressed it to his cock. "This is what you do to me. The sight and smell of you. You drive me crazy. I want to bury myself in you."  
"Adam, please." He urged her hand to massage him and she did. His mouth met hers again as he walked her back to the couch. They fell in a heap. Her hand returned to his cock. His fingers tugged at the snug denim in between her legs.  
"You feel like a warm fire on a cold night."  
"You're a cool breeze."  
He moved her hand away from him and ground his hard flesh against her cunt. All he had to do was push her shorts and panties to the side and pull down his loose lounge pants and he'd be inside her. She panted and opened her legs. "Yes, Adam."  
"Rhyan?"  
She blinked as she looked around the room. Shit, she'd fallen asleep. It'd been a dream. Fuck. "Yes, Adam?"  
"It's good to see you."  
"Good to see you too." She sat up straighter on the couch. Relief and disappointment fought in her heart and head. He turned his back to her and padded down the hall. She smacked herself in the forehead and rubbed her hand down her face so she wouldn't watch his back and ass as he walked away.


	6. Chapter 6

Truth be told, Adam avoided her as much as she avoided him. Eve told him to give in to the temptation that Rhyan represented, but he couldn’t. He knew she was different. He felt it in his soul. This draw to her. She moved through the house, cleaning and organizing his clutter, but he refused to let her into his bedroom. Not that she’d pressed or that she’d even asked. She seemed to be avoiding his room. As if it were too close to him for her comfort.  
Adam sat on the edge of the bed, his feral hair even wilder having just woken up. A soft knock sounded on his door.  
“Adam?”  
“Yes?”  
She knocked again. “Adam, are you awake yet?”  
“Yes, Rhyan.”  
“I can barely hear you.”  
“Then open the door.” It creaked open but she didn’t move into the room. She stood in thin gray scrubs, a purse crossed over her torso which drew his attention to her lush breasts. “Yes?”  
“Luther’s sick. I have to work tonight.” She looked at the floor then met his eyes. “I didn’t want you to worry.” Adam stood up from the bed and grabbed his dressing gown. He looked at her sharply as he heard her heart beat increase, heard her sharp intake of breath. She looked away quickly. “Sorry, Adam.”  
His brow pinched. What the hell was she sorry for? He tied the sash around his waist and happened to glance down. It clicked then. He only wore the dressing gown.  
“Thank you for thinking of me.” Her answering smile reinforced his resolve to avoid her. Maybe he should find another human liaison.  
“You’re welcome.” She looked down at her phone. “I’ve gotta go before I get stuck in traffic.” He was left staring at the empty doorway.  
Adam shuffled down the hall and to the bathroom and his hiding place. He set out the cordial glass and poured his nightly repast. His dressing gown had fallen open, but with Rhyan gone for the night, he needn’t worry. Besides, she’d made it clear she didn’t want to see his nude body.  
He drank down the glass. The euphoria washed over him. Endorphins and pleasure coursed through his blood. Her scent came wafting around him from somewhere in the room and his body responded. His hand closed around his stiffening cock.  
Yes. He stroked the hard flesh. This is what he wanted. He could see her in his mind. Her warm flesh flushed and pink. Her luscious breasts bouncing as they fucked. They were streaked with blood where he’d bitten each of them to taste of her. Her cunt would be like fire around his cock. His breath shuddered in his chest. Then he really did scent her, at the doorway. Her heart pounded like thunder in his ears. That sharp intake of breath.  
He opened his eyes and turned his head in her direction, not lifting it from the back of the couch. His hand didn’t stop stroking. His mouth dropped open as he met her eyes. He grunted, lifting his hips off the couch. Her pink tongue licked her lips then she touched her throat. He grunted and closed his eyes, dropping back against the couch.  
“Adam…”  
He turned in her direction, his cock growing hard once more. “Come to me if you’d like.”  
She took a step back. “I can’t…Adam, your wife.”  
“My wife has encouraged me to satisfy this thirst for you.” Well there went that argument. He reached out to her, his hand seeming so innocent and welcoming.  
Rhyan licked her lips. He could smell her arousal. He savored it on his tongue. He ached to taste her. Her blood and her cunt. The entirety of her flesh. His cock twitched. She whimpered and the bastard smirked. “I have to go to work…”  
“Then come to me before the sun rises.” Rhyan whimpered but she forced herself to take another step back then run down the stairs. The front door banged open. He closed his eyes, stroking his cock once again. He imagined her surprised cherry lips wrapped around his pale shaft this time.


	7. Chapter 7

Rhyan didn’t return to Adam’s for nearly a month. She couldn’t. She knew her resolve was weak and she’d fuck him. She’d let him fuck her six ways from Sunday, in every fuckable hole she had and she’d beg for more. She’d let him bite her. She’d cum thinking of that nearly every night of that month away from him.  
There were times where she’d leave the window open to the Ian’s skylight. It stared down onto her bed. She would masturbate, fucking herself with her fingers and her clit vibe. She would cum with Adam’s name on her lips, imaging his cock buried balls deep in her cunt and his fangs in her throat or her breast. She hoped he watched her through the skylight.  
Those thoughts tormented her as she sat outside across the street. Her hands twisted on the steering wheel. She squirmed in the driver’s seat. What if she found him like that again? Stroking his cock and looking so damn delicious it was a fucking crime. She sighed and grabbed the cooler from the passenger seat.  
Rhyan looked up at the house. The curtain twitched in his recording room. She smirked but it faded away as the door opened. She swallowed.  
“I was worried you wouldn’t come back.”  
“I shouldn’t have.”  
“Why?”  
“I don’t know. You have to give me that. None of this should be happening.”  
“But it is.” She climbed the stairs and offered the cooler to him, keeping space between them. He turned his back to her and walked inside. She shut the door behind her and turned around.  
Before she could blink or think, he’d taken the cooler. His arm wrapped around her tightly, his fingers caressing her palm. “I’ve missed you more than I am comfortable with.” He grunted and leaned in, scraping his teeth on her palm. She trembled in his arms, wanting this more than she felt comfortable with. Desiring his touch, wanting his touch, needing his touch was very different from having it. He overwhelmed her senses. His open mouth trailed down her wrist. He held her close, breathing her in deeply.  
“Adam…”  
“Be with me. You don’t have stay. You don’t ever have to come back. Just be with me tonight. I feel you like an emptiness in my soul that only you can fill.”  
Rhyan looked away. “That’s too much, Adam. I’m not worthy of that.”  
“You are worthy of it. Only one other person has kindled this fire in me.” She swallowed and met his intense, unavoidable gaze. “And I’ve married her three times in my life.”  
“It’s too much, Adam.” She tried to pull away from him. Her breath sped up. “Don’t put that on me. Please. You’ve lived lifetimes. Surely I can’t mean that much.”  
“I can’t explain it.” He tipped her chin. “I’ve avoided humans as much as I could. Living in seclusion when Eve was off on her travels. You affect me in ways I can’t explain or justify. Eve feels I should taste of you.”  
Rhyan swallowed. She had a feeling that didn’t just mean a kiss. The word tumbled from her lips before she thought too hard. “Yes…” Then his lips were there and his tongue tasted like pennies and cinnamon. He lifted her effortlessly. Her legs wrapped around his waist. He carried her up the stairs and into the room she’d avoided and he’d kept closed.  
Black satin sheets? She couldn’t begin to think about the cliché of a brooding vampire having black satin sheets. She couldn’t think because he stripped her tee shirt and jeans, leaving her in her bra and panties. He stood stoic at the foot of the bed. He pulled the black tee shirt over his head.  
Rhyan scooted back on the bed, bending her body to the side. He shed the black jeans and crawled onto the bed, willing his cock to harden. He crawled up the bed and knelt before her. She leaned up and wrapped those cherry lips around his shaft. He barked a loud, harsh moan into the bedroom.  
"Christ, Rhyan..." His fingers went into her hair and closed. Her lips and tongue stroked his hard flesh. His muscular thighs pushed upward, sending him further down her throat each time she came down his cock. When she came up for air, he used his hand in her hair to guide her mouth to his. "Thank you for that. It was better than I imagined it."  
She blushed and the renewed scent of her blood in the air made his cock twitch. He laid her back on the bed and laid over her. He teased the length of his shaft along her silky covered cleft. She sighed and squirmed on the bed. "Adam."  
"Open your legs, Rhyan." She did and he nestled between them. Adam kissed her like a starved man. Maybe he had been, starved for warmth and the fragility of humanity. His hot, savage kisses moved down her body, kissing and nipping as he went. He grabbed her leg, high on the thigh, wrapping his arm around it.  
He looked up her body, awaiting her permission. Her lips parted in anticipation. She licked her lips then her hips shifted just slightly upward. And there it was. His tongue drove into her wet folds, lapping up her dew. She sighed and wiggled on the bed, but he wanted to memorize her with his mouth in case he never got the chance again.  
His tongue wrote a wet line from her opening to her clit. He licked and sucked the swollen little bud, leaving her gasping, quivering on the precipice. The scent of her blood in the engorged tissue drove him wild. He pricked it with the tip of his fang. Rhyan cried out in pain and surprise but that pain soon became pleasure, coming in waves. Wave after wave swept her under, drowning her ecstasy at the tip of his tongue and fang  
“Adam, please!” She didn’t know what she was asking for. Adam please stop. Adam please don’t stop. Adam please fuck me. Adam please drink me. His pupils blown, his fangs descended. He seized her hips and jerked her against him, onto him. She shouted again, his impressive length filling her.  
His dark eyes bored into hers as his hips snapped in short, hard thrusts. He held her effortlessly, leaning her back so he could watch her breasts bounce. She braced a hand on his shoulder and her feet on the bed behind him. Her body shaking as she rode his cock.  
“Rhyan?”  
“Yes, Adam.”  
He snapped forward like a viper, plunging his fangs into her left carotid artery. The scream and the flash of pain died. He held her tightly to him, her body writhing between its dual impalements. His eyes rolled back in his head as her blood flooded his mouth. He groaned at her clenching body, at her taste. This would have been his moment of release were he a human. He pulled out, licking her wound clean and closed.  
Adam laid her on the bed. She pulled him into a languid kiss, utterly spent. “Rest, baby.” He kissed her again before her eyes slipped closed.


	8. Chapter 8

Rhyan lifted her head from the pillow and looked around the room. She wasn’t in the loft. She was in Adam’s bed. She rose up slightly, feeling the weight of his head on the back of her thigh. “Adam?” He hummed. “What time is it?”  
He rolled and slipped his arm under her belly, drawing in a lungful of her scent before kissing and biting the bottom curve of her ass cheek. “After sunset.”  
Rhyan let her head drop. “I’ve got to get ready for work.”  
“Or you could stay here.” He kissed her thigh, his hand shifting slightly to tease the tuft of dark hair between her legs.  
She closed her eyes and enjoyed his touch. The bed shifted. “We talked about this. I have to work. I’m not an enigmatic vampiric musician.”  
“And I told you I would take care of you.”  
Her protests died on the tip of his tongue. It plunged into her from behind as his fingers sought her clit. She lifted her hips off the bed, sighing. His tongue drew a line between the cheeks of her ass. He teased the clenching muscle ring with tip of his tongue. He pressed the flat of his hand to her belly then pushed his tongue inside.  
“Oh Adam.” She sighed breathlessly. His fingers pressed firm quick circles to her clit while his tongue slowly pushed further into her brown rose. Rhyan clutched the pillow tightly, biting her bottom lip.  
The bed shift again as Adam moved onto his knees, between her legs. He urged her up onto her knees. His fingers thrust into her, making her gasp then his cock replaced them. Her shout drove into him. She clutched at the bed even as she pushed back onto him.  
This had become their nightly ritual. She’d wake tangled in his sheets and sometimes him. They’d fuck then she’d go to work, either at the hospital or on his house. Adam would take her blood then drink from the blood she brought him while she showered.  
He pulled her up by her shoulders, watching her breasts bounce from behind. She kissed him over her shoulder, whimpering as his fingers teased her sensitive clit into an orgasm. He broke the kiss then plunged his fangs into her right carotid artery, throwing her into another orgasm.  
“Oh god, yes Adam!”  
They collapsed to the bed, Rhyan breathing heavily. She pushed up and kissed him, tasting her coppery blood on his tongue. He cupped the side of her face. “I wish you would stay home tonight.” His thumb traced her bottom lip, smearing the trace of blood there.  
Rhyan leaned into his hand. “Something wrong, baby? You’re usually not this insistent.”  
He fell blank. Would she understand the niggling feeling at the back of his brain? He shrugged. “Just a feeling I guess.”  
“I have my phone. I’ll text you when I get to work. Is yours even charged?”  
“Yes.” He grinned. “Eve was quite pleased and surprised that you managed to get me to use a modern phone.”  
Rhyan smiled. “You didn’t tell me that.” She couldn’t explain why impressing his wife over something so menial made her happy. “I’ve got to shower. I can’t go to work smelling like cum and blood.” She kissed him again then bounded off down the hall.  
Adam sat on the side of the bed. He could see the effects of their blood exchange every now and then. Her increased speed and agility were one. He heard the front door open as the shower turned on. He was up and down the stairs before her awareness hit him full force.  
“Eve.”  
“Adam.” He took her hands in his then wrapped his arms around her waist. They breathed each other in before he set his lips on hers. Eve could scent the girl all over him, all over the manse. She could taste her in his kiss.  
“You should have told me you were coming.”  
“I wanted it to be a surprise.” She smiled softly. “And it apparently is.” Eve held up her hands. “May I?” Adam removed her gloves. His fingers caressed her palms and twined their fingers before he brought their joined hands to his lips.  
A floorboard creaked at the top of the stairs. He’d been so engrossed in his wife’s return that he hadn’t heard the shower stop or the floor board creak as Rhyan walked up the hall. He could hear her heartbeat like a hummingbird’s.  
“Rhyan.” His lips twitched. He wanted to smile as his two loves met. Loves? Yes, he loved this mortal girl. “This is my wife, Eve.”  
“Hello, poppet.” Again, Eve smiled softly, her gentility belying her vampiric nature.  
“Hello. Adam?”  
“Its fine, baby.”  
Rhyan raised an eyebrow. Fine? It was not fine. She stood in a towel in her lover’s hallway after they’d just fucked, meeting his wife. What about this was fine?? She decided for the outward appearance of calm even though inside, she was screaming in her head. “I’ve got to get dressed for work.”  
Usually, this is where he’d tried to get her back into bed or onto the couch. Not tonight. Tonight, he was mooning over his wife. Rhyan headed back to the bedroom, sighing as she went. Her fingers combed through her hair, and she shut the door firmly behind her.  
Eve turned to Adam. “Go to her.”  
“What? You’ve only just arrived.”  
Eve reluctantly pulled her hand from Adam’s. “She’s anxious and jealous and a tad bit hurt.” Adam looked up the stairs. “Go. Reassure her.”  
“Fuck.” He trudged up the stairs in his dressing gown. Rhyan stood at the mirror, brushing her hair. She jumped at his touch, not seeing him in the reflection. “Talk to me, Rhyan.”  
She drew in a shuddering breath. That breath shredded the control she had. The tears began to flow. He urged her to turn to him but she stood fast. He finally resorted to his preternatural strength to turn her around.  
“Rhyan.”  
She sighed and wiped the tears from under her eyes, thankful she hadn’t put her makeup on yet. She shrugged. “You looked…so perfect. So in love.” She shrugged. “How can I compare to that? I mean, what are we doing, Adam? Are we just fucking or what? This can’t lead to more. Marriage? You’re already married. Children? You’re a vampire. Can you even HAVE children?”  
“Rhyan, I-“  
“No, it’s not your fault. It’s mine, really. I knew better.” She stepped around him and sat on the bed, pulling her sneakers on. “You’re a musician. More than that, you’re a married man. I fucking knew better.” Adam didn’t know what to say. “I’ll-“ She took a deep breath and let it slowly. “I’ll be by to get my things in the morning. Just put everything downstairs, alright. I don’t-“ She waved her hands. “I don’t want to have to come in here and see the two of you in bed. Ok?”  
She started for the door but he blocked her path. “You don’t have to go.”  
“I do. I have to go to work.”  
“That’s not what I meant.” He reached for her but she took a step back. “Eve isn’t threatened by you. By our relationship.”  
Rhyan’s mouth opened in hurt and shock. She clamped it closed, fresh tears springing to her eyes. “Of course, she’s not. She’s your wife. She’s a beautiful, ethereal vampire. And I’m just a scrubby little human. What is there to be threatened of? You’ll have your use of me and then I’ll grow old and die and the two of you will be young and perfect in wedded bliss for fucking ever.” She balled up her fists. “Get the fuck out of my way.”  
Adam’s handsome face fell blank. “Rhyan-“  
“Just get out of my way. I have to go to work.” She side stepped around him and out the door. She didn’t bother to look for Eve. She didn’t care. She grabbed her purse from the entryway and slammed the door behind her, running across the street to her trailblazer.


	9. Chapter 9

Rhyan waited until after the sun was fully in the sky before she went back to the manse. The house felt like a tomb in its silence. She had hoped to find her things boxed up in entryway. No such luck. Fuck it. It could all be replaced. She fought the urge to slam the door. She fought the urge to squall the tires as she drove away. But she couldn’t fight the tears.  
Again, she’d known better. Married men never leave their wife. But had she expected him to leave Eve? No, Eve’s absence entirely prevented that desire. She’d been enjoying their time together, their intimacy and affection. She hadn’t gone into the affair with any expectation but now, here she was, crying over a love that she hadn’t realized was love until it was gone. He had wanted her to stay but how could she? Nothing they had together would ever compare to what he and Eve had. She’d always feel like second best, second place, second choice to the woman he’s loved for centuries.


	10. Chapter 10

One Year Later.  
Adam looked out over the darkened city. His normal brooding self hid the fact that he missed her. Her absence distressed him. He’d fallen in love with this human in the most unexpected way.  
“Speak, my love.” Eve reached across the bench seat and grabbed his hand. “I know something is troubling you. It’s the girl, isn’t it? Rhyan?”  
Adam sighed. He could never hide anything from Eve. “I miss her. As surely as I miss you when you are gone.”  
“Then go to her.”  
“She doesn’t want me anymore.”  
“Nonsense, I heard the pair of you the night of my arrival. I had hoped to meet her.” Eve squeezed his hand. The leather of their gloves creaked. “She must be something quite special.”  
Adam looked to his wife then back out the window. He’d only ever loved one other woman in his existence. And he was holding her hand.  
“You should talk to her.”  
“And say what?”  
“Tell her that you love her.”  
“That won’t matter. She’s jealous of you and insecure of what we have together.”  
“Then you must show her that it is just as special.”  
“I don’t know how, Eve.” He pulled his hand away and twisted the wheel between his hands. “I love you more than words. What do you feel about this?”  
Eve turned from him to look at the window. “I am secure in your love for me. I want to know this girl. She must be very special to have you twisted up like this, my darling.”  
*  
Eve waited until Adam had gone to sleep for slipping out of the manse. Though it had been quite some time since the girl had come to house, Eve could still smell her. She tracked the scent to a loft apartment. Soft music wafted up through the open window. Sex perfumed the air. As did alcohol and…salt?  
She crouched with her back to the horizon, peering in the window. Rhyan sat naked in a chair near to the wall of windows. A half-drunk wine glass dangled from her fingers. A man lay in the bed on his belly, snoring softly. Rhyan brought the glass to her lips and drained it. Her eyes looked out over the darkened city in the direction of the manse.  
“I miss you…” She blinked loose the tears in her eyes, letting them fall like rain on her breasts. She unfolded herself from the chair and crossed to the bed, setting the glass on a low lying table. Eve watched her crawl up the bed. “Time to wake up, Dr. Forbes.” The man groaned and rolled onto his back.  
“Again, baby? I’m tired and I have sixteen hour shift in about six hours.”  
She kissed down his bare, tanned chest. “Fuck my pain away.” The doctor groaned deeper as Rhyan took his flaccid cock into her mouth. She stroked him hard with her lips and tongue. When she got him fully hard, she rode him slow and hard until they both came shouting.  
Rhyan wanted it all the time because she was never fully satisfied. It was Adam’s fault, truly. He had been blessed with a beautiful, large cock that even in his vampiric state he knew how to use. But they’d exchanged blood, heightening her pleasure.  
Eve watched as the doctor rolled back over onto his belly and Rhyan padded to the bathroom. The sound of the shower covered the sound of the girl’s sobs, but not for Eve who dropped down through the sky light, landing with no sound. She stood in the bathroom, waiting for the girl to come out.  
Rhyan turned off the water then opened the curtain. She toweled herself off before stepping from the tub. She brushed her teeth and combed her hair. Her squeak of surprise made Eve smile.  
“Rhyan.”  
“Eve. What are you doing here?”  
“I came to see how you are.”  
“Well, I’m fine. I met someone and I’m happy. Tell that to Adam and both of you can leave me alone.” Eve didn’t let her confusion show on her face.  
“Then why do you cry?”  
“Why is it your business? I ended it with Adam. He’s all yours again.”  
Eve smiled sadly. “Oh darling girl, he’ll never be all mine again. He loves you.”  
“But you’re his wife. His vampire wife. And I’m just a human that he fucked.”  
Eve’s lips moved only slightly. “You don’t realize how special that is. Adam has no patience for humans. And yet, he tolerated your brother Ian and had grown to like him. And you…well, you surprised my liege lord enough that he fell in love with you.”  
“Then why won’t he tell me?”  
“I don’t think I understand.”  
“I see him every once in a while. He comes to get blood from Luther. And he’ll look directly at me then turn and walk away.”  
Eve sighed. “Perhaps, he’s waiting for you to say something.”  
“How can I, Eve?”  
Rhyan looked at the floor, tears stinging her eyes. She was so tired of crying. Eve tipped her chin up. The girl’s skin felt so deliciously warm against Eve’s cool fingertips. “There it is.” Eve understood now why he’d Renfielded her. “You are blood of my blood.”  
“So he loves me because I’m your descendant?”  
“No, I have never sired a child. You must be a niece. But you are my blood. My family. That drew his attention, yes. But no, you are something special to him. I’d like to get to know you. Please come back to him.” Rhyan felt a soft ghost of kiss and the ethereal blonde was gone.


	11. Chapter 11

The summer storm hit the city hard. Rhyan and Dr. Forbes sat in the Porsche in awkward silence. She stared out the window with her arms over her chest.  
Dr. Forbes twisted his hands on the wheel. He ground his jaw, focusing on the busy night traffic. People became stupid in the rain, especially in the rain after dark. As an ER doctor, he knew the consequences of distracted driving in inclimate weather. And yet…  
“Would you at least tell me why?”  
Rhyan sighed and finally looked at him. It was the first time since she’d told him she wanted to end things. They’d finished dinner in silence. He’d gotten the check but he was still a gentleman, dammit. He’d even opened and shut her door for her.  
“I’m sorry, Craig. I don’t love you. And it wouldn’t be right if we continued on.”  
“Is this because of last night?”  
“A little bit.” He’d let ‘I love you’ slip while she was giving him head in the car.  
“I’m alright if you don’t love me yet.”  
Rhyan turned in her seat to fully face him. “There is no yet, Craig. I love someone else.”  
“Who-“ Dr. Craig Forbes didn’t get to finish his sentence. He’d let his focus come away from the road. Neither of them saw the bright red brake lights of the car in front of them. The Porsche folded like an accordion. Their seat belts prevented them from being ejected through the windshield. That might have been a blessing. The steering wheel broke Dr. Forbes sternum and several ribs, piercing his heart and lungs and collapsing his chest cavity.  
Rhyan’s head hit the windshield. Her long legs snapped under the force of the dash. The glass cut her face and throat. She tried to breathe but it felt like ground glass in lungs. She choked on blood and glass. Her entire body screamed with pain. “A-d-am…”  
*  
Adam headed in the direction of Rhyan’s loft. He’d scented her on Eve when he’d woken up. He’d confronted his wife, who had quite simply told him to stop being a fucking idiot and to go to her.  
He squinted against the garish flashing lights, in white, red, blue, and orange. He scented the blood. Through the myriad of hearts and voices that assaulted him, he recognized one. The charger danced in the rain on the asphalt as he brought it to a violent stop. He threw open the door and leapt out into the pouring rain. The sound of metal screaming made him cringe. He moved fast enough through the crowd they felt him as a passing breeze.  
“Rhyan! Rhyan!”  
“Sir, I’m gonna have to ask you to step behind the barrier and let the men work.”  
“Get your hands off me.”  
“Sir, step behind the barrier.” The cop dropped his hand to the butt of his handgun and opened the snap.  
“Get out of my way.” He blurred past the man and approached the mangled car. The perfume of her blood choked the air. She was bleeding out. His eyes shone silver in the moonlight. All the blood in the air brought his fangs down. They would have to leave Detroit again, but he couldn’t let her die.  
He shoved the firemen out of the way and tossed their ‘jaws of life’ like a child’s toy. He grabbed hold of the top of the car door and pulled with all his unnatural strength. He gritted his teeth with the effort as the metal groaned then popped free. He tossed the door away to screams from the crowd.  
“Rhyan? Baby?” He leaned her back gently in the seat. Her blood spurted anew from her severed artery. She coughed, choking on air, clotted blood and glass dust. “I’m here, baby.” Her pupils were different sizes. The right one had constricted while the left was blown wide. She had a severe head trauma.  
Adam knew she was dying right before his eyes. Her gaze seemed to focus on him for a moment and she smiled weakly. She managed to lift her arm to caress his cheek, leaving a sticky blood smear. Eve would know what to do. Eve would save her. He heard the guns cock and the frantic heartbeats of the officers who wielded them. Adam ignored them. He was dancing on the line of his control.  
“I’m taking you home.” Rhyan tried to swallow but choked. She tried to nod but it hurt too much. Her strangled, weak cry of pain shattered his heart. He reached into the mess of the car. He couldn’t imagine the pain she was going through. Her legs moved at odd, loose angles.  
“Stop right there.”  
Adam looked the officer square in the face before he leapt straight up. He landed on the roof of the building behind the scene. Holding her tightly, he ran across the rooftops back to the car then dropped down. He laid her tenderly across the seat, turning her so her head was propped up on his thigh. He controlled himself as he backed up silently from the accident scene then sped back to the manse.


	12. Chapter 12

Consciousness faded in and out, as did the pain.  
Adam spoke to her as he drove like a madman through the wet, dark streets.  
She heard the slow thump of his heart as he carried her into the house. Or maybe that was hers. It could have been both perhaps. But did it really matter?  
The pain dulled but drowned her in its heaviness.  
Her teeth chattered.  
Eve’s ghostly pale face appeared above her. Her calming voice soothed Adam’s frantic one.  
Her eyes fluttered at the thick chocolate that rolled over her tongue.  
Chocolate didn’t taste like copper pennies.  
Chocolate could never be as sweet as the red liquid that held her back from the brink.   
Warmth suffused her from the bath she floated in. Four hands washed her clean. Lips she knew all too well kissed her shoulder, her broken face, her hair.  
Blood coated her tongue and throat.  
She remembered coughing up clotted blood, choking and gagging.  
Eve held her in the bloody bath as panic seized her.  
She is my Countess Bathory, she thought.  
The pain returned. Violent. Acute.  
Her stomach twisted and heaved before she vomited up wine and fish.  
She had enough of her mind to feel embarrassment as her bowel and bladder expelled the last traces of her humanity.  
Adam held her now. Eve sprayed out the tub. Her head pressed his chest. The slow thump of his heart lulled her back to sleep.


	13. Chapter 13

No wonder he never has the light on, Rhyan thought as she opened her eyes. She could see the wrinkles of the damask bed curtains in Technicolor. She felt Adam pressed to her front. The scent of him overwhelmed her. Her face pressed to his skin drawing the scent deeply into her lungs. Adam smiled in his half-awake state and touched the back of her head.  
“Stop, baby, that tickles.”  
“You smell amazing.” She moved up onto her knees, tickling her nose along his chest like a puppy learning how to track. She felt Eve at her back, stretching like a cat then rolling off the bed. “Like leather and ozone and blood.”  
Adam combed his fingers through her hair, tugging at the ends to get her attention. She looked at him, her pupils blown wide in the overstimulation. “How are you feeling?”  
“Like a fucking superhero.” She kissed him, surprising him with her eagerness. He tasted her blood in his mouth where she’d cut her tongue on her fangs. He stifled a moan as she reached between his legs to rub his flaccid cock. “You saved me.”  
Eve prickled at her awareness and she moved away from Adam like a shot. “Forgive the interruption but we need to feed. There’s a good deal of packing to do before we leave.”  
“Where are we going?”  
Eve handed Adam a cordial glass filled with blood. Rhyan watched as they drank, her mouth opening at the bliss on their faces. The scent of the blood twisted her stomach. Eve handed her the carafe. “Careful, poppet, try not to spill it.”  
Adam watched with unguarded want and need as Rhyan drank down the carafe, spilling but a trickle out the corner of her mouth. He growled as he rolled up onto his knees. His tongue cleaned the crimson line up from her chin to the corner of her mouth.  
He didn’t bother to control himself as he plunged his tongue between her lips, growling more. He pushed her onto her back and opened her wide. They grunted at the first push of his cock inside her. He pressed his forehead to hers, their panting breath the only sound, save for slapping flesh. He fucked her like a beast unchained, nipping at her pouty lips and growling. She marked his back as she came, perfuming the air with his blood.  
Adam panted, his eyes never leaving hers. He flinched at the touch of Eve’s tongue on his back. He closed his eyes, savoring the gentle touch. Adam swallowed and dropped back onto the bed, the wounds healing before he touched the silk. Rhyan snuggled on one side and Eve on the other.  
Eve’s fingertips caressed the girl’s cheek. “Adam and I will teach you how to be one of us. We will care for you and love you.”  
“Love me?”  
“Why yes, child. You and Adam love each other. I love Adam. So much that I gave you a part of myself so that you could live. How could I not love you?”  
“So where are we going?”  
“Where do you want to go?”  
“Everywhere.”  
Eve laughed at her breathless excitement. She began to see why Adam had fallen for her. Rhyan was a great deal like a young Eve. Adam caressed the backs of his fingers on their shoulders. You wouldn’t find a happier man than he.


End file.
